Oleksandr Kucher

Oleksandr Kucher

Kucher with Shakhtar Donetsk in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Oleksandr Mykolayovych Kucher
Date of birth	(1982-10-22) 22 October 1982 (age 41)
Place of birth	Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000–2002	Arsenal Kharkiv	59	(5)
2002–2005	Metalurh Donetsk	9	(0)
2002	→ Arsenal Kharkiv (loan)	14	(0)
2003–2004	→ Metalurh-2 Donetsk	10	(0)
2003–2004	→ Banants Yerevan (loan)	19	(3)
2004–2005	→ Arsenal Kharkiv (loan)	12	(0)
2005–2006	Metalist Kharkiv	28	(2)
2006–2017	Shakhtar Donetsk	167	(7)
2017–2019	Kayserispor	42	(0)
2019	Karpaty Lviv	4	(0)
2020	Metal Kharkiv	0	(0)
Total		364	(17)
International career
2006–2017	Ukraine	57	(2)
Managerial career
2020–2022	Metalist Kharkiv
2022–2023	Dnipro-1
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He was a powerful defender who was good in the air and provided good coverage in the back. He could also play as a defensive midfielder.

A Shakhtar Donetsk player from 2006 until 2017, he won many honours including Premier League titles and the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. He made his senior international debut in 2006 and represented Ukraine when they co-hosted UEFA Euro 2012.

Kucher started his career with Youth Academy alumnus "Athlete" Kharkiv and Arsenal Kharkiv, playing 59 times and scoring 5 goals. He joined Metalurh Donetsk in 2002, spending a season on loan at Arsenal Kharkiv during the 2002–03 season, a season at Armenian side Banants Yerevan during the 2003–04 season and another spell with Arsenal in the 2004–05 season. He made 26 appearances for Arsenal over his two seasons on loan. He scored 3 goals in 19 appearances for Banants. Having made 9 appearances for Metalurh, Kucher moved to Metalist Kharkiv during the 2005–06 season playing 28 matches with his only two goals coming in 5–2 defeat to Chornomorets Odesa. Oleksandr joined Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2006–07 season. He made his debut for Shakhtar as a substitute in a 5–0 victory over his former club Metalist. He scored in a 4–1 victory over Metalurh Donetsk on 9 August 2009. He netted an extra time winner in the final of the 2011–12 Ukrainian Cup. Kucher scored a brace in a 3–1 victory over Dynamo Kyiv on 4 September 2012 in a man of the match performance.

On 11 March 2015, he was given the quickest red card in the history of the Champions League when he was sent off for foul on Thomas Müller in the third minute of a last 16 second leg against Bayern Munich which Bayern won 7–0.

Kucher made his debut for the Ukraine national team on 15 August 2006 in a 6–0 friendly victory over Azerbaijan. He scored his first goal for Ukraine on 11 October 2006 in a 2–0 Euro 2008 qualifying match victory over Scotland. He was part of Ukraine's squad as they co-hosted UEFA Euro 2012 with Poland, but did not feature in the group stage exit. Four years later, Kucher was again part of his country's 23-man roster to participate in the UEFA Euro 2016. This time, he made one appearance for Ukraine, in a 1–0 loss to Poland, as Ukraine was once again eliminated at the group stage.

Club